What's All This?

Sometimes, you just have to do something big and stupid.

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So Henriques the Navigators, on a quixotic whim, decided to act like the old Portuguese explorers, and prove their sailing skills by driving a car. To make things stupider, they signed up for the Mongol Rally.

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As if this wasn’t enough, they decided to do it even bigger, and to drive their Nissan Micra from Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point of the landmass of Eurasia, to Ulan-Ude, in Siberia.

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The Dutch have a fine sailing tradition as well. So our Zee would not miss this opportunity to join the navigators. Together, they now form Henriques Zee Navigators.

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A Ship Car

It is a beautiful Nissan Micra from 1993. She makes lovely strange noises, and one of the doors might be falling apart. It is passionately red, and she still has a roof. And quite a few wheels. Even the exhaust pipe is still there. She was given the eccentric name of Frol, short for Frol de la Terra.

Detour is The Tour

It would be no fun to just go straight through Russia. Instead, Henriques the Navigators will attempt to cross a few countries, preferably where tarmac is a luxury, including the famous Pamir Highway. That’s nearly 8000km difference.

Some Awesome Skillsets

Henriques the Navigators have an impressive set of skills. They understand naught of mechanics, and they have specialised in the Art of Arguing when lost. Let’s see where it leads them.

WHO THE HECK WOULD DO THAT?

RUI HENRIQUES

Nerd. Mountaineer. Marathoner. Never cared much about cars or driving until I heard about this Mongol Madness. I still don’t care much about cars. Any crap will do, really. Which means I fit the profile, right?

MARIA HENRIQUES

MANON VAN DER ZEE

Rule Breaker. Out of the Box Thinker. Proof in the Picture: can lift a big (heavy enough) black object. No problem.

A ROUGH IDEA

HOW IN THE NAME OF?...

Henry the Navigator

In the beginning of the 15th century, Prince Henrique O Navegador already had bullshit ideas that turned out to be great. While shaking the dew off the lily, Henry must have contemplated the magnificent view of the Atlantic Ocean from Cape St. Vincent. A wet dream, I tell you.

From here to setting a naval school and sending dozens of Portuguese caravels sailing around the globe was only a small matter of time.

Little did he know that the brothers Henriques would take his name to attempt something stupider by land after 600 years.

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Mongol Rally

Ah! The Mongol Rally! Simply the greatest motoring adventure on the planet. You see, being stuck in a shitty car for two months. Drive half the globe in it. That is, if tits don’t go up. Chances are that they will.

GPS

Henriques Zee Navigators will definitely not give a shit to where they are located, and will certainly get lost. The beauty of it is that everyone else will be able to see them driving in circles. You see, they have a GPS tracker attached to their bums, and they will share it for the whole world to see their idiocy.

Cabo da Roca

Henriques Zee Navigators are not happy enough in starting in the UK. They prefer to start in the westernmost point of Eurasia. Which means Cabo da Roca in Portugal. If they decide to go west from there, they’ll have a problem.

Mongolia

The glory of this trip is reaching Mongolia. The endless steppes in the wildest country in the world will most likely make a big impact on our beautiful Micra. It might not survive. But then again, it might not even reach Mongolia.

Cool Earth

A noble thing about this is that Henriques Zee Navigators are fighting the destruction of the rain forest and the poverty that it carries. Cool Earth is the charity they support. And you can donate as well!

Frol de la Terra

It’s the name of the beautiful Nissan Micra acquired by the team. She will sail by land, just like Frol de la Mar sailed by sea. It’s of no use to say that it doesn’t make sense. Henriques Zee Navigators will attempt it anyway.

What's Being Said About Us

“By the love of God, if I knew this sooner I would have sponsored you my pope-mobile.”

- Pope Francis

“But it is omelettes and eggs. No eggs – no omelettes! It depends on the quality of the eggs. In the supermarket you have class one, two or class three eggs and some are more expensive than others and some give you better omelettes. In the Mongol Rally you don’t have any of these. Perhaps class four, or even class five eggs.”

- Jose Mourinho

“People that go to far away places to help out are great – but must suffer the covfefe”

- Donald Trump

“Small and shit. Why didn’t I think of this before? Much easier than ponies and black death.”

- Genghis Khan

“Honestly, this is something I have never seen before.”

- Stevie Wonder

“Yeah, I have heard of it. I believe it’s Micra soft.”

- Bill Gates

“When we have faced down impossible odds; when we’ve been told that we’re not ready, or that we shouldn’t try, or that we can’t, Henriques Zee Navigators have responded with a simple action that sums up the spirit of being a nutcase: they joined the Mongol Rally.”